The UConn track and field team will travel to the Armory Track in New York this weekend to compete in the Dr. Sander Colombia Invitational. After some fantastic results at the recent Battle in Beantown and the Eagle Elite Invitational, this two-day competition is set up to yield some fantastic results for the Huskies.
The meet will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday with the women’s shot put and the men’s triple jump, before action on the track begins at 11:30 a.m. with the 60-meters. It is an earlier start on Saturday, with the women’s weight throw kicking off at 9:30 a.m., before the 3000 at 9:50 a.m.
Two names that jump off the start list for the Huskies are Terrel Williams and Travis Snyder. Williams is currently ranked No. 6 in the NCAA for the 60-meter hurdles after an emphatic win in Boston. This earned him the Big East Male Track Athlete of the Week award, and puts him as one of the favorites to win this weekend.
Snyder also performed very well at Boston, jumping 5.30 meters to clinch first place. This effort puts him at the No. 26 spot in the NCAA rankings, and he then took home the Male Field Athlete of the Week in the Big East. This mark was only 5 centimeters away from the UConn record, which Snyder will surely look to target in the future. The season could not have started much better for the pair, and they will both be looking to cement their dominance in the Big Apple.
The men’s team will also feature Richmond Kwaateng locking horns with Albany’s star duo of Shak Williams and Travis Williams in the 60. Star sprinter Joseph O’Brien (200-meter) will also take on Cornell’s Tomas Kersulis, who is currently ranked No. 14 in the country in the one lap distance. UConn record holder Wellington Ventura is set to have his season opener in the 400, after clocking in an impressive 21.41 seconds in the 200 in Boston.
While some would be daunted by the stiff competition this weekend, Mahamed Sharif (800-meter) discussed the purity of the sport in relation to the “race to win” mentality.
“You only get so many chances to run at your best with good competition,” Sharif noted. He placed No. 4 in the mile at the Eagle Elite Invitational with a new PR, and will look to carry this momentum into his 800 race this weekend.
The women’s mile should be an event to watch, with the trio of Randi Burr, Jenna Zydanowicz and Chloe Thomas battling it out. Zydanowicz took home second place in Boston last week, but Thomas was just a tenth of a second behind. Despite this being Burr’s first mile race since April 2022, her win in the 3000 last week at Boston College speaks volumes about the form she is in.
Jailya Ash will also return to race in the 60 hurdles after not competing at the Battle in Beantown. Ash is currently ranked No. 35 in the NCAA for this distance with a mark she achieved back in December. As one of the top seeds for this meet, she has a solid chance to storm to victory.
Felicia Quainoo will also look to dominate in the triple jump. The junior jumped a stellar 12.66 meters in December, which places her in the top 30 in the NCAA.
Elsewhere on the women’s team, expect to see some fantastic performances from athletes like A’liyah Thomas (long jump, 60 hurdles), Raquel Rosa (200-meter) and Emily Alty (shot put, weight throw).
